The new median proposed to be built on China Lake Boulevard would still allow left turns out of the Ridgecrest Town Center plaza at Starbucks.

This was one of the many details released about the project, scheduled to begin construction in spring 2015, at a special meeting of the Ridgecrest Planning Commission on Tuesday. Representatives from Caltrans made a presentation to the commission and the public in attendance.

Several members of the public spoke, raising such concerns as effects on traffic flow, cutting off access to businesses, or water used by landscaping in the median. Some also wondered why Caltrans couldn’t first use a less permanent solution first, such as painting the median or installing some sort of temporary barrier.

But Caltrans representatives gave the impression that the project is mostly a done deal, with input from citizens mainly to shape the final particulars of the project rather than help determine whether it happens at all.

“At this point, our project is funded, and we’re trying to move forward and improve the community a little bit,” said Caltrans engineer Art Ramirez.

The project, at a cost of $2,250,000, would construct a median along China Lake Boulevard from the intersection of Inyokern Road south to the median near Ridgecrest Boulevard, and would rebuild and raise the existing median between French Avenue and Ridgecrest Boulevard. It would also rebuild and raise the existing median on Ridgecrest Boulevard heading east to the entrance to Dollar Tree.

There would be a large number of left-turn pockets.

Heading north from Ridgecrest Boulevard, one would be able to make a left turn to head westbound at French Avenue (with a signal), Argus Avenue, Coso Avenue, Las Flores Avenue (signal), Home Depot, Felspar Avenue, China Express, Drummond Avenue (signal), Ridgecrest Regional Hospital south entrance, Sydnor Street/RRH main entrance, Ward Avenue (signal), Reeves Avenue, Graaf Avenue, Triangle Drive and Inyokern Road.

The median will be 10 feet wide from Inyokern Road to Drummond Avenue, 14 feet wide south to Ridgecrest Boulevard, and 10 feet wide east to Dollar Tree.

Caltrans representatives said the project came about because Caltrans monitors each highway in the state highway system for accidents.

“In that process, this section of Highway 178 came to light because there were 101 accidents in a three-year time period in a two-mile section of highway,” said Caltrans engineer Terry Erlwein. “That’s well above the statewide average for a similar facility.”

Broadside crashes were most common, followed by rear-end crashes and sideswipes. Four pedestrian were hit, as were one bicyclist, one motorcyclist and three objects in that time frame. There was also one rollover crash and six head-on crashes.

Page 2 of 2 - Notably, the median will have enough of a gap in it at the entrance to Ridgecrest Town Centre that shoppers leaving the center at the exit by Starbucks would be able to turn left to head southbound on China Lake Boulevard, rather than either turning right and making a U-turn at Drummond Avenue, or exiting the center at the north entrance and turning left onto Drummond, then left at China Lake.

This despite the frequent backups to exit the center while someone waits to turn left.

Erlwein said that spot was originally an area of concern when the project was first being drawn up.

“What we’ve looked at is leaving it in the current condition and pursuing a signal for that intersection,” she said. “It does not have the highest accident concentration of intersections in this stretch of highway, but it is a concern.”

After the meeting, Erlwein told a Daily Independent reporter that the part of the road with the highest number of accidents is the stretch between Ward and Drummond, with 16 in three years. The turn from Stater Bros. only has six in that time span.

Much of the other discussion during the meeting focused on the possible landscaping within the median. Caltrans representatives said their part of the project would be just to put in the six-inch-high curbs and stamped concrete, and provide water pipes out to the dirt portions to allow for watering if the city wants to go that route.

But several citizens spoke against plants, pointing out that the city can’t afford the plants in the median on Downs Street, adding more plants to water would be unwise in light of recent reports that the groundwater supply is in severe overdraft, and that other areas with landscaped medians, particularly South China Lake Boulevard at Wilson Avenue, have poor visibility.

Some suggested instead installing art, similar to what is in the median on Drummond Avenue between China Lake Boulevard and Normal Street.

“I would agree that the southern portion of China Lake Boulevard, from Ridgecrest Boulevard south, where it has the trees and shrubs, it is a hazard,” said Planning Commissioner Matthew Baudhuin. “Not just from the visibility standpoint, but in the wintertime, there’s water runoff from the center median, and in the early morning, that water runoff becomes ice. I think the idea of center median art interspersed along the center median is a good thing, and it goes along with the city’s desire to brand itself as the petroglyph capital.”

Comments on the proposed project are being accepted until March 11, 2014. For more information, contact Mehran Akhavan, project manager, at 559-243-3444 or mehran.akhavan@dot.ca.gov; Trais Norris, senior environmental planner, at 559-445-6445 or trais.norris@dot.ca.gov, or write to Caltrans District 6, attention Trais Norris, 855 M St., Ste. 200, Fresno, CA 93721.